BMWs are phenomenal European luxury performance cars. But when slapped with an ‘M’ badge, something sinister happens. Add a ‘3,’ and it’s a whole different ball game of speed, agility, and track aggression. The ‘M3’ badge is like a microchip of terror. It’s an evil genie in a bottle waiting for an equally capable master. But what happens when a BMW M3 gets a performance tune? Mat Watson put a standard M3 against a performance-tuned variant on a drag strip and hit the gas pedal.
The BMW M3 thrives for a few simple reasons. For starters, it's bi-polar (but in a good way). Its drivable options allow it to be the perfect daily driver but a vile track contender on the flip side of things.
Forget its incongruous grille, the M3 Competition comes with a twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six engine making 510 HP and 650 Nm of torque. The Competition version only comes with an 8-speed automatic, with the more purist M3 version featuring a 6-speed running on a rear-wheel-drive setup.
Watson's car, the tuned M3 Competition comes with the same twin-turbo 3.0-liter 6-cylinder engine as the standard version. Instead of putting out 510 HP and 650 Nm, it is making 600 HP and 750 Nm of torque. Wretch Studios did an ECU tune on this M3 Competition, significantly upping its power.
The first race is a quarter-mile race. The standard M3 starts well, taking the lead for a couple of seconds before the tuned M3 comes in and drags it to the end. It’s a humiliating loss, and for a second, it almost feels like Watson is driving something more powerful than an M3.
The tuned M3 completed a quarter-mile in 10.7-seconds while the standard version did it in 11.2 -seconds.
The standard version took off a little quicker on the rolling race, but a few feet into the race, the tuned M3 came in and won. A second rolling race in sport mode from 3rd gear has the tuned version obliterating the standard variant again.
For the brake test, the standard version wins, but Watson reckons it could be due to its carbon ceramics.
Humphrey is a car enthusiast whose love and passion for automobiles extended into collecting, writing, driving, and working on cars. He got his passion for cars from his Dad, who spent thousands of hours working on his old junky 1970 E20 Toyota Corolla. Years later, he would end up doing the same with a series of lemons he’s owned throughout his adult life. Full profile
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